Wednesday, April 2, 2014Cleveland makes second round of race for the Republican conventionColumbus is eliminated, but Cincinnati is still in the running for the RNC in 2016by WKSU's KEVIN NIEDERMIER

ReporterKevin Niedermier

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson talks about making the second round of the race to host the 2016 RNC. Next to him are Cuyahoga County Republican Party Chairman Rob Frost and City Council President Kevin Kelley.

Cleveland has advanced to the next round in the race to host the 2016 Republican National Convention. City officials got word today that the site selection committee will visit sometime in the next few weeks.

Cleveland, along with Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas and Kansas City still have a shot at the 2016 RNC. Columbus and Phoenix were eliminated. Mayor Frank Jackson says making it to round two means the city must prove it can deliver what it promised.

“They sent in a technical team to, I guess, evaluate whether or not what we asserted in our application is correct. If we make through this round then we go to the third round which is a full site visit, which is my understanding. And, of course, the fourth and final round is the convention itself.”

Two things the RNC is expected to check are the travel times from the downtown convention center to suburban hotels, and whether the public and private funding promised can be delivered. Jackson says he will try to get some of the funding that was promised in Columbus’s failed bid. Cleveland tried but failed to land the 2008 RNC. But Jackson says the city has a much better chance this time because there’s a new convention center and many more hotel rooms.